An Excellent New Song
Ye Commons and Peers,Pray lend me your ears,I'll sing you a song, (if I can,)How Lewis le GrandWas put to a stand,By the arms of our gracious Queen Anne.
How his army so great,Had a total defeat,And close by the river Dender:Where his grandchildren twain,For fear of being slain,Gallop'd off with the Popish Pretender.
To a steeple on high,The battle to spy,Up mounted these clever young men;But when from the spire,They saw so much fire,Most cleverly came down again.
Then on horseback they gotAll on the same spot,By advice of their cousin Vendosme,O Lord! cried out he,Unto young Burgundy,Would your brother and you were at home!
While this he did say,Without more delay,Away the young gentry fled;Whose heels for that work,Were much lighter than cork,Though their hearts were as heavy as lead.
Not so did behaveYoung Hanover brave,In this bloody field I assure ye:When his war-horse was shotHe valued it not,But fought it on foot like a fury.
Full firmly he stood,As became his high blood,Which runs in his veins so blue:For this gallant young man,Being a-kin to QUEEN ANNE,Did as (were she a man) she would do.
What a racket was here,(I think 'twas last year,)For a little misfortune in Spain!For by letting 'em win,We have drawn the puts in,To lose all they're worth this campaign.
Though Bruges and GhentTo Monsieur we lent,With interest they shall repay 'em;While Paris may sing,With her sorrowful king,Nunc dimittis instead of Te Deum.
From this dream of success,They'll awaken, we guess,At the sound of great Marlborough's drums,They may think, if they will,Of Ahnanza still,But 'tis Blenheim wherever he comes.
O Lewis perplex'd,What general next!Thou hast hitherto changed in vain;He has beat 'em all round,If no new one’s found,He shall beat 'em over again.
We'll let Tallard out,If he'll take t'other bout;And much he's improved, let me tell ye,With Nottingham aleAt every meal,And good beef and pudding in belly.
But as losers at play,Their dice throw away,While the winners do still win on;Let who will command,Thou hadst better disband,For, old Bully, thy doctors are gone.
Words in this poem
- commons n.
- The mass of the people, as distinguished from the titled chasses or nobility; the commonalty; the common people. [Eng.]
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- popish a.
- Of or pertaining to the pope; taught or ordained by the pope; hence, of or pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church; -- often used opprobriously.
- cleverly adv.
- In a clever manner.
- burgundy n.
- An old province of France (in the eastern central part).
- gentry n.
- Birth; condition; rank by birth. [OE. genterie, gentrie, noble birth, nobility, cf. gentrise, and OF. gentelise, genterise, E. gentilesse, also OE. genteleri high-mindedness. See Gent, a., Gentl]
- campaign n.
- An open field; a large, open plain without considerable hills. [F. campagne, It. campagna, fr. L. Campania the level country about Naples, fr. campus field. See Camp, and cf. Champaign, Champagne.]
- monsieur n.
- The common title of civility in France in speaking to, or of, a man; Mr. or Sir. [Represented by the abbreviation M. or Mons. in the singular, and by MM. or Messrs. in the plural.] [F., fr. mon my + Sieur, abbrev. of seigneur lord. See Monseigneur.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- disband v. t.
- To loose the bands of; to set free; to disunite; to scatter; to disperse; to break up the organization of; especially, to dismiss from military service; as, to disband an army. [Pref. dis- + band: cf. OF. desbander, F. débander, to unbind, unbend. See Band, and cf. Disbend, Disbind.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Excellent New Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #13621; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jonathan Swift, An Excellent New Song, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/an-excellent-new-song.html, id L09293.
Form and metre
An Excellent New Song is 78 lines in 13 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 11 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABCCB peersA · earsA · canB · grandC · standC · anneB
- 2 AABCCB greatA · defeatA · denderB · twainC · slainC · pretenderB
- 3 AABCCB highA · spyA · menB · spireC · fireC · againB
- 4 AA---- gotA · spotA · vendosme · he · burgundy · home
- 5 AABCCB sayA · delayA · fledB · workC · corkC · leadB
- 6 AABCCB behaveA · braveA · yeB · shotC · notC · furyB
- 7 AABCCB stoodA · bloodA · blueB · manC · anneC · doB
- 8 AABCCB hereA · yearA · spainB · winC · inC · campaignB
- 9 AABCCB ghentA · lentA · emB · singC · kingC · deumB
- 10 AABCCB successA · guessA · drumsB · willC · stillC · comesB
- 11 AABCCB perplex'dA · nextA · vainB · roundC · foundC · againB
- 12 AA---- outA · boutA · ye · ale · meal · belly
- 13 AABCCB playA · awayA · onB · commandC · disbandC · goneB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ye Commons and Peers, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Pray lend me your ears, | 5 | ····· |
| I'll sing you a song, (if I can,) | 8 | ········ |
| How Lewis le Grand | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Was put to a stand, | 5 | ····· |
| By the arms of our gracious Queen Anne. | 9 | ····//˘·· |
| How his army so great, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Had a total defeat, | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| And close by the river Dender: | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Where his grandchildren twain, | 6 | ··/·˘· |
| For fear of being slain, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Gallop'd off with the Popish Pretender. | 10 | /˘···/˘˘/˘ |
| To a steeple on high, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| The battle to spy, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Up mounted these clever young men; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| But when from the spire, | 5 | ····· |
| They saw so much fire, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Most cleverly came down again. | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Then on horseback they got | 6 | ··/··· |
| All on the same spot, | 5 | ····· |
| By advice of their cousin Vendosme, | 9 | ·˘/··/˘·· |
| O Lord! cried out he, | 5 | ····· |
| Unto young Burgundy, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Would your brother and you were at home! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| While this he did say, | 5 | ····· |
| Without more delay, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Away the young gentry fled; | 7 | ˘/··/˘· |
| Whose heels for that work, | 5 | ····· |
| Were much lighter than cork, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Though their hearts were as heavy as lead. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Not so did behave | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Young Hanover brave, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| In this bloody field I assure ye: | 9 | ··/˘··˘/· |
| When his war-horse was shot | 6 | ······ |
| He valued it not, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| But fought it on foot like a fury. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Full firmly he stood, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| As became his high blood, | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| Which runs in his veins so blue: | 7 | ······· |
| For this gallant young man, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Being a-kin to QUEEN ANNE, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Did as (were she a man) she would do. | 9 | ········· |
| What a racket was here, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| (I think 'twas last year,) | 5 | ····· |
| For a little misfortune in Spain! | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘·· |
| For by letting 'em win, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| We have drawn the puts in, | 6 | ······ |
| To lose all they're worth this campaign. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Though Bruges and Ghent | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| To Monsieur we lent, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| With interest they shall repay 'em; | 8 | ·/˘··˘/· |
| While Paris may sing, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| With her sorrowful king, | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Nunc dimittis instead of Te Deum. | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| From this dream of success, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| They'll awaken, we guess, | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| At the sound of great Marlborough's drums, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They may think, if they will, | 6 | ······ |
| Of Ahnanza still, | 5 | ····· |
| But 'tis Blenheim wherever he comes. | 9 | ··/·˘/˘·· |
| O Lewis perplex'd, | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| What general next! | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Thou hast hitherto changed in vain; | 8 | ··/·/··· |
| He has beat 'em all round, | 6 | ······ |
| If no new one’s found, | 5 | ····· |
| He shall beat 'em over again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| We'll let Tallard out, | 5 | ····· |
| If he'll take t'other bout; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| And much he's improved, let me tell ye, | 9 | ···˘/···· |
| With Nottingham ale | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| At every meal, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| And good beef and pudding in belly. | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| But as losers at play, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Their dice throw away, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| While the winners do still win on; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Let who will command, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Thou hadst better disband, | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| For, old Bully, thy doctors are gone. | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
Notes from the edition 4
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 3, line 3 In the Dutch accounts of the battle of Oudenarde, it is said that the Dukes of Burgundy and Berry, with the Chevalier de St. George, viewed the action at a distance from the top of a steeple, and fled, when the fate of the day turned against the French. Vendosme commanded the French upon that occasion.--Scott.
- Stanza 6, line 2 The Electoral Prince of Hanover, afterwards George II, behaved with great spirit in the engagement, and charged, at the head of Bulau's dragoons, with great intrepidity. His horse was shot under him, and he then fought as stated in the text. Smollett's "History of England," ii, 125.--W. E. B.
- Stanza 11, line 1 Louis XIV.
- Stanza 13, line 6 A cant word for false dice.--Scott.
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